by Paul Bellow
"I'm not sure yet. The word in the garrison is that you killed over a dozen men outside the city today. Do you care to explain yourselves?"
Captain Riggardo looked from Eric to me before moving to Bernard.
"Speak up," he demanded.
"We were attacked," I said. "Self-defense."
"That might be," Captain Riggardo said. "But here you are back in the city? Are you competent enough to make it all the way across the realms and close off the Pit of Doom?"
"We are," Eric said.
"And we're going to kill the black dragon too," Evan added, stabbing with his dagger for emphasis.
Captain Riggardo shook his head.
"I've got my doubts about you five. Here's the deal. You need to do something else for me to prove you're ready for this journey."
"We've got to leave," I said.
"You in a hurry to get out of the city?" Captain Riggardo asked. "Are you on the run or something?"
"No," Eric said. "We're anxious to finish your mission."
"I bet," Captain Riggardo said sarcastically as he shook his head. "You're not clear to leave until you finish this simple task for me."
"What task?" Eric asked.
"You need to capture the Liger that's been terrorizing the townsfolk outside the city."
The other men in the Black Guard snickered.
"What's a liger?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"You know," Captain Riggardo said. "Half-tiger and half-lion."
A few of his men chuckled again.
"There's no such creature," I said.
"I've never heard of one either," Evan said. "You're making it up."
"No, no, they exist. Snipes aren't real. That must be what you're thinking about."
"Why don't your men take care of it?" Eric asked.
"Because I want you to prove your worth," Captain Riggardo shot back.
"Fine, we'll do it," I said. "But we want a reward for helping."
Captain Riggardo threw his head back and laughed.
"We'll see if you come back with the body of the liger. Good luck even finding it in the first place."
He turned and left the temple, followed by all his men.
New Side-Quest: Defeat the liger that might be attacking peasants and farmers. Liger blood is the base for many great potions and enchantments. This noble beast is nearly extinct. You'll get -10 alignment but +5000 xp.
"Is the alignment hit worth it?" I asked. "This level it's supposed to be important."
"We'll be fine losing ten alignment points, and the xp will help us." Eric turned to Evan. "You ready to track down a liger, little guy?"
Our brownie companion nodded his head eagerly.
I smiled. We had a small party, but our skills complimented each other.
"Yeah," Evan said. "I can teach you how to track."
"That would be a fine skill for a bounty-hunter to have, wouldn't it?"
Eric smiled and put his hand on Evan's shoulder.
"We also need to find people to join our party," Bernard said.
"I think that ring is working," I said. "You've got me convinced."
We laughed, easing the tension in the room.
Could we complete Captain Riggardo's strange task?
Or was he setting us up for failure as payback for something?
Time would tell. With practically no mana left for the day, I hoped my bow would be enough. How hard could it be to kill a liger, anyway?
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After talking to several people in the village west of the city, we narrowed down the location of all the attacks. They had all taken place in a patch of woods and shrubs a half-mile outside the city walls.
"Can you find it, Evan?" Eric asked.
"Yeah, I told you," the brownie said in the voice of an annoyed teenager. "Geez."
"Are you healed up enough for this, Eric?" I asked.
"Did you bring some of the potions?"
"Yeah, I figured we might need them. We can take the liger without magic, can't we?"
"I think so," Eric said. "If nothing else, Bernard can detect whether it's evil or not."
He snickered. I smiled.
"Or bash its head in," Bernard countered.
"And I've got my bow. We can take it."
"Liger's are nothing for a dragon-slayer like me," Evan said.
I smiled at him then looked at the overgrown woods on the other side of the field. Something looked off.
"Stick together," Eric said then turned and walked toward the trees, leaving the wagon.
The sun had begun its slow descent on the horizon, casting long and crazy shadows. I held my bow tightly in one hand, ready to pull an arrow from my quiver at a moment's notice.
We were taking a risk by not being healed fully. I watched Eric, Bernard and Ewen a few steps ahead of me, all of them had their swords drawn. Evan walked to my left, dagger out and ready.
A bellowing roar came from somewhere inside the woods. I pulled an arrow out and placed the notch in my bowstring. Would I even have enough room to take a shot?
"Keep your eyes and ears open," Eric said as we crept closer to the trees.
My eyes caught something in the woods.
"Is that it?" I asked, pulling back on the bow string.
"What?" Eric asked.
"I see it," Evan said excitedly.
The majestic liger stepped out of the woods and crouched down low, ready to pounce. I had second thoughts about killing the creature, but I reminded myself we were in a game.
"Now," Eric yelled.
I fired an arrow.
Your arrow MISSES the liger.
I need more practice.
"We should've rested more, Sarah," Charlotte said.
I shushed her and drew another arrow, hoping I didn't hit one of the others.
The other four circled the liger which might've been a bad idea.
With a ferocious growl, the noble cat leaped forward.
It knocked Ewen to the ground with its massive paws.
"No," Evan shouted then threw his dagger at the beast.
The blade bounced off the animal's thick hide as the liger clawed Ewen's face.
"Get him," I yelled then let loose another arrow.
Your arrow SCRATCHES the liger for 3 damage.
Ugh. This is useless. There's a reason mages don't use weapons.
The liger turned its massive head toward me while still pinning Ewen to the ground.
Eric ran up to the liger and slashed its back with his sword. The liger didn't flinch, stepping forward.
"It's coming this way," Charlotte said, her voice full of alarm.
"We're not going to outrun it," I said then fired another arrow.
Your arrow SCRATCHES the liger for 2 damage.
"Maybe we need magic arrows," Charlotte said.
"No kidding," I replied.
The liger crept forward, inching closer.
Its eyes gleamed in the last light of dusk.
Evan and Bernard crouched next to Ewen, tending to the fallen brownie's wounds. As the liger took another few steps, I saw Bernard use the wand of healing on Ewen.
I dropped my bow and gripped my Staff of the Ram with both hands, not ready to go down without a fight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eric and Bernard on the move.
The liger stopped and turned around as Eric's sword slashed it on the head. It let out a terrific roar then pounced toward the source of the attack.
Bernard screamed and swung with his new mace. It made contact directly on the beast's head, causing it to yelp and whimper back.
"Finish it," Eric yelled.
Tears filled my eyes as the majestic creature fell after several more blows from hardened steel. I'd never been an animal activist or anything, but the reality of everything hit me.
"It's just a game," I muttered.
"What do you mean, Sarah?" Charlotte asked.
"Don't worry about it," I said as I
stepped forward.
Combat is Over!
You get 6,000 xp divided by five party members.
You get +1200 xp
You have 37,097 xp
You need 15,903 for level 7 Wizard -> Warlock.
Eric and Bernard stood over the liger with smiles on their faces.
"That wasn't so bad," Eric said as I stopped next to him. "What's wrong? Are you crying?"
"No, I got smoke in my eyes," I lied.
Eric looked around, saying nothing about the lack of smoke in the air.
"Let's get the body back to the temple," he said. "Maybe you can make a strength potion with the liger blood."
"Yeah," I said, nodding my head to look more convincing. "We could use more potions."
"Cheer up." Eric put his hand on my shoulder. "Good job with the bow. Well, mostly."
He grinned. I forced a smile.
"I'm okay if anyone's worried," Ewen said as he and Evan walked up. "That's a nasty cat, and I'm glad it's dead."
The sight of him still wounded reminded me that killing an almost extinct animal in a game wasn't that big of a deal. Why was I getting so emotional out of nowhere?
Eric, Bernard and Ewen lifted the liger's body into the back of the wagon. As we walked toward the city, darkness fell over the lands, making my mood even more somber.
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Inside the main room of the temple, we stood around the body of the liger. Blood from its many wounds stained the stone floor, but none of us cared.
"Does someone want to collect the blood?" I asked. "Maybe I can find a book on making potions since he had so many here."
"Good idea," Eric said. "But how to drain the liger's blood."
Before anyone answered, the front door opened and Captain Riggardo strode in.
"You don't need to worry about that," he said.
How did he know what we were talking about?
"We got rid of the cat for you," Eric said. "You going to help us with men?"
Captain Riggardo laughed haughtily.
"No, I'm not." He turned to his men. "Get the liger."
Four full-sized humans wearing dull black chain mail walked around him.
"Hold on a minute," Eric said. "We've got a use for the body."
"You don't think I do too?" Captain Riggardo asked.
The men pushed past Eric and Bernard and grabbed the liger by the hind legs.
As they dragged it across the floor, I thought about our options. We could fight them for it, but that wouldn't be worth it. Did Eric understand?
I glanced over and saw him fuming, eyes narrowed into slits. The scar on his face made him look even meaner. Come on, Eric. Keep it under control.
"What about your promise to help us with your mission?" I asked.
Captain Riggardo waved his hand through the air, dismissing the notion.
Bernard, the voice of reason in our party, said, "We could use the help."
Captain Riggardo snorted.
"Too bad," he said. "Deal with it. You're lucky I don't take the temple back from you."
What's the deal with this guy? I wondered. He's not making any sense.
I watched as he turned and left the temple. His men followed, still dragging the liger.
"We need to leave soon," I said when they were out of earshot.
Eric nodded.
"I agree," he said. "But I think we should talk to Magi Inyontoo first."
"Are you crazy?" I asked.
"It makes sense," Bernard said. "He can't hurt us through the mirror. Maybe we can trip him up and get him to give us some information that will be helpful."
"Yeah..." I sighed. "That's a good idea."
"I'll stab him through the mirror if he does something," Evan said.
"Can you and Ewen stay down here and clean up?" I asked.
"Aw, man," he groaned.
"I have skills other than pushing a mop," Ewen said.
"We don't want Magi Inyontoo to know you two are in our group," I said.
Evan nodded his head excitedly.
"You got it, Sarah. I'm your man for mops, brooms, and dragons."
I smiled and motioned with my head for Bernard and Eric to follow me upstairs.
None of us had been in the secret room since we discovered it.
Would the PK'er be around to answer our questions?
As we walked to the second floor of the temple building, I doubted he would even respond.
Griefers made no sense.
Eric stopped outside the secret door.
"We should make sure we're all on the same page," he said.
Bernard nodded.
"And only one of us should talk," he added.
"Not it," I said.
"Fine, I'll do it," Eric said.
"No, wait." Bernard held up his hand. "Let me try this new ring. My charisma was already high."
"Good idea," I said. "Let's get this over with. I hate talking to that guy."
We went into the room and turned the mirror around. After a few seconds of staring at the smoky reflection a few moments in silence, I turned to Eric.
"Is there a way to get his attention?" I asked.
Eric shrugged.
"I've never used a magic mirror before," he said.
"Well..."
Out of ideas, I let my voice trail off.
"Come on, Magi Inyontoo," Bernard said, tapping the mirror with his ring.
The smoke parted as the mage in black stepped forward.
"You're still there at the temple?" He smiled. "That's great."
"We're leaving, but we wanted to talk with you," Bernard said. "You're a smart player, and we don't want to be your enemy."
"Then you shouldn't have killed me father," Magi Inyontoo said.
Is this guy crazy, or what?
"We didn't kill him," Bernard said.
"Of course not, fool. You don't get the reference at all, do you?"
Bernard looked at us then back to Magi Inyontoo's image in the mirror.
"Not really."
"You're all idiots who don't deserve to be in the game," Magi Inyontoo said. "There's a creature on this level you're going to have problems with."
"Oh?" Bernard asked. "You mean the black dragon?"
"Wait... You know about it already?"
Bernard nodded and said, "Yup."
"Um, okay." Magi Inyontoo stroked his new goatee. "Stay tuned. You killed me father and all that..."
He walked into the smoke and out of our view.
"That didn't help any," I said.
"Yeah," I said. "But at least we tried. I'm not sure what I was expecting."
"Keep your enemies close," Bernard said.
I nodded then said, "We should leave first thing in the morning for Woodshore Forest to find this Axelrod person."
"Sounds good," Eric said. "I'm going out tonight to find people to join our party. We can leave tomorrow around noon."
"Be careful," I said.
Eric turned.
"Are you coming, Bernard?"
"We're going out again?" Bernard asked. "No one wants to join our party unless we're killing goblins."
"I need your high charisma, man."
Eric smiled, pouring on his own charisma.
"Fine," Bernard relented.
"I'm staying here to check out more of the books," I said. "Maybe I'll learn something useful."
"Great," Eric said. "You and the brownies hold down the fort. Well, the temple. You know what I mean."
I smiled and nodded.
Eric and Bernard left the room. I followed then headed in the other direction as they went downstairs. Finding a room piled with books from floor to ceiling, I stopped, wishing I had more time.
Losing the temple would suck, but I didn't want to confront Magi Inyontoo again.
Not so soon. We needed to level up more to take him on.
Getting out of Esterhollow quickly made the most sense, but one more night in the temp
le might lead us to information that would be helpful in getting out of the Tower of Gates game.
()xxxx[:::: Chapter 5 ::::>
Why Won't Anyone Join Party?
ERIC
While Sarah read her books, Bernard and I headed to the seedier side of the city near the docks. Houses of ill repute and taverns lined a road that hugged the coast from one end of the city to the other.
"Where first?" Bernard asked as we walked down the middle of the street.
People passed us on either side despite the late hour.
"I don't know yet," I said. "My skills in finding black market connections might come in handy."
"Another rogue is the last thing we need in our party," he said.
"Yeah, but I want someone not connected to Captain Riggardo."
"That might be easier than you think," he said. "Let's stop in here."
He pointed to a tavern called The Smirk & Hammer.
"You think we'll find party members in there?" I asked.
"Maybe. If nothing else, I could go for a glass of mead."
I smiled. Good old Bernard. We walked into the establishment.
Several heads turned as we strolled across the room.
A tall, thin man stood behind the bar.
"Two meads," I said, leaning against the carved wood.
The bartender looked down, saying nothing.
"What's the matter?" I asked. "We've got money."
I reached into my pouch for a few silver pieces before dropping them on the wooden bar.
He swiped them up with a single fluid motion but didn't move to get our drinks.
"That's two meads," I said, straightening up.
"We don't serve your kind in here," he said.
I tilted my head to the side.
"Fine. Give me the silver back."
The bartender didn't blink as he said, "I'll keep it as your entrance fee."
Bernard grabbed my arm.
"Stay calm," he said. "We don't want trouble over a few silver coins."
I took a deep breath, staring into the bartender's eyes.
He didn't flinch. I stepped back then turned around.
"Over there," I said, nodding my head to the corner. "That guy."
"What about him?" Bernard asked.
"See the red stripe on his left shoulder?"
"Yeah. What about it?"